The Birth of the Mad Hatter
by Dark Herin
Summary: The Mad Hatter wasn't always crazy...


**The Birth of the Mad Hatter**

By Dark Herin

Chapter One:

Jervis Tetch was a weary man; his hair was beginning to grow out white instead of its usual shade of blonde. His cheeks were of a rosy pigment and his eyes were creased and swollen. He had full lips and two front teeth that stood out like those of a rabbits'. His youth was fading away and was being replaced with a dull unfriendly persona. Everyone in the office could see, yet no one paid much mind to it; to him, the only person in the world that he felt actually cared for him was Alice, his secretary.

Mr. Tetch took a step out of the elevator, looking both ways. He then strolled across the room with a coffee mug in hand; his shoulders were leaned back slightly, his head raised and a grin on his face. Just like every single day for the last five years, he was on his way to greet his secretary.

"Hello, my dear. How is the world treating you?" Jervis said with his thick British accent. These were one of those days, Alice thought, when you just couldn't understand what he was trying to say; he was probably drinking earlier this morning.

"Just fine, Jervis. Listen, I know things have been hard since the death of your parents, but you really shouldn't drink…"

"They were killed for God sakes! Both of them… murdered," Jervis said, hitting the table with his fists so hard that the photo of Alice and her boyfriend, Billy, toppled forewords.

"Jervis, I'm sorry…I just…want to help you."

"If you want to help me, love, just leave me alone." He snarled. Then he swiftly walked towards his laboratory. On his way there, he hit his right arm against the door frame and began to curse, "Who the hell put this here! Damn it!" and walked into his room.

Jervis Tetch was beginning to loose both his temper and his mind since the loss of his parents. It has been less than a year now, Jervis thought to himself, since the gruesome murder of Mister and Misses Tech. He frowned at the thought of his parents unlocking the front door to their Victorian house in England after a night at the opera to be ambushed and stabbed by a delusional, schizophrenic, homicidal nutcase. Jervis was starting to feel lost, very lost; he was loosing interest in his work because he had no motive. He knew he was going to get fired if he couldn't get a hold of himself, and that, he thought, would send him a one way ticket to Arkham Asylum. He needed to ventilate his anger, his feelings- to get a grip and soon. Suddenly, it seemed to him that he had hope after all, that maybe he wasn't going to loose his job.

This realization came to him when Alice entered the lab. "Jervis, I…I was thinking about this for quite a while and, well, do you want to go out for dinner after work? I really care about you, and it's just, in my psychology class they say that talking to someone you know and trust about your problems is great therapy." She looked at him and he looked back at her, studying every aspect of her, all physical details. Alice has gorgeous blue eyes, he thought, that could probably see right through him. He found her thick blonde hair attractive; he even took note of how the blue bow in her hair was perfectly placed on the left side of her head.

He was distracted by her stunning looks that when he tried to speak, the only words he could make out were, "well…um…definitely."

"Good, well, I'll see you then," and she left the room, gently closing the door behind her.

"God, Jervis, don't get too excited. She just wants to sit down with you and have a nice chat," he thought to himself quietly. He looked into the mirror rubbing the stubble on his chin, "Maybe she was just making an excuse; maybe she does want to go out with you. Tetch, she likes you. After all, she did say she cares about you." Then he turned back around to face his project, "Yes."

Once all work that needed to be done was completed, Jervis Tetch left room ten closing the door with a loud thud. Then he turned around, reached for his keys and began to finger through them until he found one that corresponded with the lock; he then locked the door slowly, cautiously looking in all directions through the corners of his eyes. He was startled when he felt a warm hand placed on his shoulder. His first reaction was to smile, assuming that it was Alice, yet when he looked behind him, it was his employer, Bruce Wayne. He couldn't help but frown.

"Hello Mr. Tetch, Alice told me that you've been having some… problems. If you'd like to, I can give you some time off from work to cope with this issue?"

"No, it's rather fine." Jervis said coldly, wiping Bruce's hand off of his shoulder as if he were some kind of blood sucking insect.

"Alright then," Bruce was quick to leave the room.

Jervis jogged towards Alice, he was clearly upset. "Alice, why did you go about telling Bruce, my employer…employer, that I've been having problems, hmm? Who else have you told? My business is my business! Maybe I don't want to go to dinner with you anymore, hmm? Why did you go about telling him that I have problems?"

"Jervis, I'm so sorry! I didn't know, really. I was just…"

"Trying to help me, hmm? Alice I can't believe you did that!"

"Jervis, please," Alice said, breaking into tears. Jervis' face once red with anger began to turn pale, his frown turned into a mutual expression, his eyes settled back down alleviating the creases that covered his forehead. He slowly walked towards Alice placing his hands on her back. He motioned for her to turn around and then he embraced her, stroking her hair wildly.

"Come on," he whispered into her ear, "let's get something to eat."

"Would you like to valet park this evening, sir?" asked a man with a slight French accent sitting behind a booth in front of the restaurant.

"That would be delightful!" Jervis took a step out of his beat up, green convertible tripping on a rock but quickly regained his footing. He then walked to the other side of his car and opened the door for Alice. Alice looked at the view around her, "Wow, Jervis, this is something else."

"Indeed it 'tis," he grabbed hold of her hand and jerked her out of the vehicle. "Anything for you, my dear." He looked towards the man behind the booth and threw him his car keys, "thank you."

"That will be two dollars, sir." Jervis grabbed his wallet out of his back pocket and handed him the fee. Mr. Tetch and Alice walked into the restaurant without giving one glance back.

The valet parking man gave out a chuckle and spoke quietly to himself, "this is too easy." He then glanced at the car, "well, it is a car…and any car will do." Then he patted it, "with a visit or two from Joe, you'll be looking great." He hopped into the vehicle and drove off.

Shortly after Jervis and Alice arrived, Bruce Wayne and Ms. Selina Kyle parked Bruce's new yellow sports vehicle directly outside of the restaurant. Bruce got out and gracefully opened the door for Selina, she gave him a sly smile. Bruce and Selina linked arms and walked over towards a sign that said "Valet Parking: Two Dollars." Bruce heard a muffled sound come from behind a booth, when he looked, there was a man tied up with a cloth inside of his mouth.

"Oh my!" called out Mr. Wayne and without hesitation, he aided the man. "What happened? Who did this to you?"

"Some weird-o grabbed me and hit me on the back of my head. The next thing I know, I'm tied up and helpless."

"Do you know what the man looked like?"

"Um, he had a mustache that curled at the ends…and a French accent. He had dark hair and eyes…he was very white, almost pale like he was bathing in a tub of ice…"

Selina glanced at her date, "probably just some thug." She then looked at the victim, "you should head over to the police, and tell them this, alright?" The man looked at her green, cat like eyes and nodded like a child promising a friend to keep a secret. He got to his feet and left. The couple gazed at each other, "Gosh, this town is full of creeps and thugs. Why do you stay, Bruce? I stay because I'm crazy…but you?"

"A vow I made to my parents," he looked down at his feet and then back at Selina, "I'm hungry." With that, they walked into the restaurant and took a seat. Sitting in the table beside them was, guess who, Jervis Tetch and his secretary. Bruce smiled and waved at Jervis who happened to be looking at him but then glanced away with out even giving his employer a smile.

Bruce leaned over towards Selina, "Gosh, some people are just not friendly. He never used to be like that, but now, with the loss of his parents- I worry for him…"  
"Bruce, that's your problem, you worry about everybody. Think about yourself for a change; relax. No wonder you're so stressed," Ms. Kyle said teasingly.

"I know, it's just, it frustrates me. He thinks I don't know how it feels, but I do. I don't think he's being fair. Hell, I even watched that man shoot my parents, and then he makes everyone feel like he's the only one with this type of burden… He makes me feel like crap."

Their server popped up from behind Selina, "Oh, my, Mister Bruce Wayne, a pleasure to have you and this beautiful young lady to come to _Pipito's_ this evening." Bruce gave him a smile and looked at his name tag: Pete. He then looked back up, Pete continued, "Would you like something to drink? Have you thought of something to order?"

"Water is fine," Selina and Bruce stated at the same time. Bruce then looked up at Selina and then at the menu, he mumbled something in her ear and then she nodded her head. He looked at the waiter, "We'll have your special and a house salad to share, please."  
"Alright, then; your food should arrive shortly."

Half an hour or so after they began to eat, Jervis and Alice were gathering their things to leave. "The food was delicious, Jervis. Thank you so much."

"My pleasure; and I know we didn't converse about what has been our first intention for coming to dinner, but in my opinion, good food doesn't go well with a bad story."

"Yes," Alice said in agreement. Jervis slipped Alice's winter coat slowly onto her body. His hand felt the warmness of her skin, following vibes that traveled throughout his body. Once the pair reached the valet parking booth, he asked a man for his keys. He waited impatiently with his hand out in front of him as the man fumbled through the storage cabinet. Mr. Tetch looked the man dead in the eye, "Is there a problem, sir?"

"Well, it appears to be that your keys aren't here…you said your name was Tetch, right? Spelled T-E-T-C-H?"

"Indeed. Are you positive it's not there? Can you look again?" On Jervis' order, the man searched for his keys once more.

"It's not here, but if you'd like, I can take you over to the valet parking lot to see if you recognize your car?"

"Yes, I would like you to guide us there." They walked over to the parking lot, his heart raced faster with each step. They looked through the small lot twice, yet didn't see his convertible. Then Jervis looked at the regular parking lot…there was absolutely no sign of his car.

"Sir, I can't find any car that matches the license plate number you've given me."

"Of coarse not, my car isn't here! Damn it! Damn It! Damn it! What the Hell is wrong with me! Answer me!" Jervis roared. His voice was loud enough to attract attention from people dining in _Pipito's. _The moment Bruce heard the loud and uneven tone of voice of Jervis, he ran out to see what the problem was. When Jervis caught eye with Mr. Wayne, he pointed at him yelling, "You, it was you!"

"Jervis, please, calm down." Alice said quietly tugging on the sleeve of his black suit. Jervis then began to laugh maniacally, tears pouring from his eyes. He fell to the ground in hysterics. Alice put her hand to her mouth in awe, "please, Jervis, stop this right now. Mr. Wayne is watching…you'll get fired!" Jervis paid no attention to Alice's warning; he just sat there and laughed. Then she ran towards Bruce, "Mr. Wayne, you won't fire him will you? Things have been hard for him since the death of his parents, especially his mother. He was very close to her. You understand don't you?"

Bruce tried not to look at her in the eye, "I understand, but whether I plan on firing him or not is between the two of us."


End file.
